The UK Independence Party has come a long way. In its 20 year existence it has gone from a single-issue party fighting against membership of the European Union to the UK's third party. With the trust in politicians of all parties dwindling, UKIP has hugely increased...

It is all too easy to forget how divisive the great struggles of history once were. Issues we no longer think to be controversial all caused bitter argument in their time; issues like slavery, civil rights, female emancipation, and gay rights. In each instance an established view that it was...

One of the most terrible tragedies of history is how the innocent and powerless have repeatedly paid in blood for the greed, ambition, and egotism of ruling elites. From the carnage of World War Two, to Vietnam, to Lebanon, civilians have been hit disproportionately hard; mere pawns in a vainglorious...

India and China have become the stock case studies for politicians trying to envision a new economy for the UK. They have been referenced in the past by figures like Boris Johnson, and were most recently raised by the MP Kwasi Kwarteng, co-author of Brittania Unchained - a...

On Saturday 22 September I went to the SlutWalk march. Over a year after its first appearance in London, the movement is still drawing large crowds and fighting for wider recognition of its cause - to end the culture of victim blaming in cases of rape.

The movement developed early...

At first glance, religion has always been the enemy of freedom. By its very nature, religion is seemingly didactic and absolutist, claiming to be the answer to all the world's problems - to be the source of fundamental truth.

So it is that Islam is again attracting negative attention...

It is no secret that the whitewashing of history is a common practice among politicians and ideologues. Whether it is to remove inconvenient truths or raise support for scheme, we are party to it much of the time, from all areas of the political spectrum.

There are two types...

It has long been the case that those of us who are supposedly most dedicated to human freedom and dignity are also those most susceptible to ideologies of absolutes. It is a bitter irony, and one which has afflicted many great thinkers, including George Bernard Shaw, H. G. Wells, and...

Since the Budget, confidence and trust in the Conservatives seems to be falling. But Labour - rather than gaining from this - seem to have remained firmly where they were in the public imagination two weeks ago.

According to the first post-budget survey carried out by YouGov...

Every February in Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park, California, one of the most beautiful natural phenomenons on earth occurs.

If the weather is right, for a few minutes at sunset, the waterfall is illuminated by orange light so that it looks like molten lava toppling over the cliff.

Though...

The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is the biggest in the world and is held before Lent every year. It is known for its outrageous floats, streams of dancers, and scantily-clad women adorned with halos of gold, fans of peacock feathers, and glittering jewellery.

This year's celebrations are even...

When a 16-year-old boy named William Hague spoke in front of the Conservative Party national conference in 1977, he drew huge applause and acclaim. Here was a sign of the future for the Tories - a politically engaged teenager who was willing to fight Labour even after many of the...

Though the chilly weather has put most people off sports for now, that didn't stop Barcelona's Alexis Sanchez burying the ball behind Bayer Leverkusen's goalkeeper Bernd Leno in the Champions League last night.

Nor did it stop Bernd Erfurt from swimming in an open air pool in Karlsruhe, Germany,...

The bizarre relationship that has blossomed between a ram and a doe in China's Yunan Provincial Wildlife Park is to be recognised through holy matrimony on Valentine's Day.

Chang Mao the ram and Chung Zi the doe developed a relationship last year, but were separated by...

A video posted on the internet showing a flash camera giving a verbal warning to a local resident as he entered communal gardens at his council flat block, has sparked anger on the internet.

Local resident Jim Jepps filmed himself on the Camden estate as he walked home on Saturday...